This is a foundation of a single story residence in the midwest USA.
Are these rebar protrusions intended to be used for anything like framing or mounting things to the wall? They only protrude 2 inches. I'm trying to think of how these could ever be useful and not just a liability for corrosion.
Those pieces of steel are not rebar, they are form ties that are used by the foundation people to rigidly hold the inner forms and outer forms at a fixed distance. They are held in place during form construction by V-clips outside the forms that bite into the ties. To disassemble the forms after the concrete hardens, workers knock the clips off with a hammer, then separate the forms from the concrete.
Some foundation companies make it a practice to snap off these ties as the last step of foundation construction. Yours did not. You may snap them off with one or two hammer blows, as they are made to be brittle and snap easily. Use eye protection if you do this.
You can see form ties inside the foundation forms in this photo. (Credit: Tim Carter, Washington Post)
